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Congress should reject the MOX program and support the Obama administration's improved
approach for disposing of excess plutonium.
The bill also includes damaging policy riders and report language in contravention of regular
order. Specifically, Sec. 103 would prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers from changing the
definition of fill material and discharge of fill material, even though the existing definitions
authorize harmful waste disposal in protected waters. Additionally, the committee report
contains language that directs the Department of Energy to reject the most recent social cost of
carbon estimate in upcoming regulations until a new working group is formed with a direction
to reassess the social costs of carbon downward in a biased fashion.
These riders, and any damaging policy provisions that will be offered, undercut the public
process for determining how to implement the laws that Congress has passed. They are bad
policies that will put Americans health and safety at risk and have no place on a funding bill.
Federal clean energy spending has consistently proven its worth by directing RD&D funds that
drive job creation, economic growth and reduce health and environmental costs. For example,
support for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy core programs has contributed to a 94
percent decline in the cost of LED lighting since 2008. While we appreciate that the bill does not
cut overall funding for research and development, it does cut essential programs and fails to
put us on the path to fulfilling our national commitment to double clean energy R&D funding by
2021 as part of the Mission Innovation pledge.
The committee bill provides no increase in funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy ($825 million below the request) and important programs like wind energy
are cut by $15.5 million ($76 million below the request), solar energy by $19.2 million ($62.7
million below the request) and sustainable transportation technologies by $17.6 million ($234.5
million below the request). The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) is
increased by $1.7 million, but this is $57.3 million below the administrations request, as is the
$50 million increase for the Office of Science which is $172 million below the request.
Congress should be embracing the Mission Innovation goal as an essential path for dramatically
expanding the technologies that will define a future global power mix that produces lower
carbon emissions in order to achieve the goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to
below 3.6F (2C).
This bill has the opportunity to build a path toward cleaner and healthier energy, water use and
nuclear waste storage policies for all Americans. We are greatly concerned by some of the
troubling areas in the legislation and urge the Senate to instead pass a bill that invests in clean
energy, decreases our dependence on fossil fuels, does not attempt to address nuclear waste
challenges in a manner that hamstrings the necessary comprehensive reworking of the
program, and safeguards Americas waters and climate.
We also urge opposition to any floor amendments that would harm health and the
environment.
Sincerely,
Clean Water Action
Environment America
League of Conservation Voters
Natural Resources Defense Council
Sierra Club
Union of Concerned Scientists